With the 2012 NFL season to conclude in New Orleans, the scandal known as Bounty-Gate is also getting closure. Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis and Head Coach Sean Payton are both reinstated and former Saints Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams has been allowed to seek work, although he has yet to be reinstated. But those signs are pointing to Greg Williams being reinstated as well, if he can find a coaching job with another team.
With the St. Louis Rams hiring Rob Ryan as their defensive coordinator, Williams will have to look elsewhere.
But it turns out he won’t have to look very far as the Tennessee Titans has shown interest in bringing him on as Assistant Head Coach. Titans Head Coach Mike Munchak and Greg Williams worked together on Jeff Fisher’s staff from 1997-2000, when they were known as the Tennessee Oilers.
But Munchak isn’t the only coach Williams has worked with.
Jerry Gray, who is the Titans current defensive coordinator, was the defensive backs coach when Williams was the defensive coordinator. When Williams became the Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills, he brought Gray with him. When Williams became the defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins, Williams again, brought Gray with him.
It should help make a smooth transition back into the coaching ranks once Williams’s suspension is lifted by Commissioner Roger Goodell.
But the question everyone has been asking is can Williams earn the trust back of his players, after Williams testified against Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
But according to a report by John Glennon of The Tennessean, who spoke with Titans safety Michael Griffin, Griffin doesn’t see it as an issue.
“If he comes, I know coach Gray has coached underneath him, so I don’t think it would be anything where two coaches bump heads trying to figure things out,” Griffin said. “Just watching the Saints play when they won the Super Bowl, and watching the way they played [under Williams], and he’s been a coach here before. So he’d be able to bring all that together. I think it would help us in the long run.”
Griffin has recently talked to former Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who has rejoined Jeff Fisher in St. Louis, is convinced it can work.
“You’ve just got to move forward. He’s been suspended. Most people learn their lessons when they get suspended. The league took action, so you just go forward from there. He paid his dues. He missed a whole entire season. You’ve just got to go from there. As a Tennessee Titans organization, I think we have bigger problems than to worry about what happened with the Saints.”
